[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S8707]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Lautenberg, and Mr. 
        Corzine):
  S. 2725. A bill to amend the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, 
and Modernization Act of 2003 to eliminate the coverage gap, to 
eliminate HMO subsidies, to repeal health savings accounts, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
   Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, in 2003 the Medicare Modernization Act 
became law. A part of that legislation continued a very modest--and 
fatally flawed--prescription drug benefit for seniors.
   One of those flaws--and it was something I pointed out during the 
Senate debate and offered an amendment to fix--is known as the coverage 
gap.
   Here's how it works: Seniors will have a monthly premium and a $250 
deductible and then they pay 25 percent of their prescription drug 
costs. So far so good. But then once they have drug costs of over 
$2,250, the benefit stops; it shuts down. And seniors have to pay the 
next $2,850 of drug costs on their own--100 percent of their costs--
before their coverage starts again.
   Does this sound like prescription drug coverage to you? I know that 
my insurance has no such thing, and I know of no other insurance that 
has such a policy.
   So today, Senator Mikulski and I are introducing a bill that closes 
this coverage gap and will better fulfill our promise to seniors to 
provide a real Medicare prescription drug benefit.
   Under our bill--the Closing the Coverage Gap Act of 2004--seniors 
will pay the premium and the $250 deductible and then pay for 25 
percent of their coverage until they reach their catastrophic limit of 
$5,100. After that, Medicare will pay 95 percent.
   Let me give you an example of how this works. A constituent from San 
Marcos, California wrote me about her prescription drug costs. They 
exceed $10,000 a year. In 2006, she will be helped by the new law, but 
will still end up paying nearly $4,000 for her prescriptions. Under my, 
this woman will be responsible for only $1,500 of her costs. It will 
ease her burden and give her greater peace of mind.
   This bill is simple; it is fair, and it will help millions of 
seniors across the country.
   I thank Senator Mikulski for joining me in this effort, and I urge 
my colleague to cosponsor this bill.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleague, 
Senator Boxer, to introduce the Closing the Coverage Gap of 2004 Act. 
This bill would fix one of the major flaws of the recently passed 
Medicare Modernization Act--the $2,850 gap in prescription drug 
coverage.
  The Medicare bill is a hollow promise for a prescription drug benefit 
for seniors which talks big but delivers small. It promises 
prescription drugs for seniors, yet it will cause over 2 million 
seniors to lose their drug coverage, coerce seniors into HMOs, and do 
nothing to stop the soaring cost of prescription drugs.
  During the debate on the bill, Senator Boxer and I worked on an 
amendment to fix one of the worst flaws in the drug benefit--the 
coverage gap. When I reviewed the bill, I was appalled to discover that 
the promised benefit actually provides no drug benefit to seniors for 
drug costs between $2,250 and $5,100 per year.
  The new Medicare benefit affects seniors' drug costs in two ways. 
First of all it, it prohibits Medicare from negotiating better prices 
for seniors. I am fighting for legislation that would allow Medicare to 
negotiate drug prices--lowering drug costs to both seniors and 
taxpayers.
  Next, the benefits are skimpy and spartan. The new Medicare benefit 
leaves too many seniors in a coverage gap. Some people are calling this 
a ``donut,'' as if it's a ``Krispy Kream,'' but there is nothing sweet 
about it. Seniors will have to pay out of pocket all of their drugs 
between $2,250 and $5,100 while still paying monthly premiums. This 
isn't a donut; it's a hidden deductible. The real deductible in this 
plan isn't $250. Once a senior's drug costs put them into the coverage 
gap, their deductible could be as high as $3,100. Seniors would have to 
pay all of the drug costs between $2,250 and $5,100, a total of $2,850, 
out of their own pockets on top of the $250 deductible.
  I think this is outrageous. No other insurance plan simply stops 
coverage for a while.
  Our bill would fix this fatal flaw in the Medicare prescription drug 
benefit by providing real prescription drug coverage. Under our bill, 
there is no coverage gap. Seniors would pay their premium and the $250 
deductible. Once they have paid their deductible, they would pay 25 
percent their drug costs until they reach the catastrophic limit of 
$5,100. And just like the current benefit, once a senior reaches 
$5,100, Medicare would pay 95 percent of all drug costs.
  I thank Senator Boxer for all her work on this important bill and 
look forward to working together to close the coverage gap.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
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